Incorporation monitoring

When handling open radioactive substances it may occure that radionuclides are incorporated into the body, e.g. by inhalation, ingestion, through the skin or through an open wound. This leads to internal radiation exposure. It is the task of incorporation monitoring to assess the internal doses retrospectively.

The BfS Coordinating Office on Incorporation Monitoring in Germany is responsible for the quality assurance of the monitoring methods, the comparability and harmonisation of analytical and measuring procedures and of the methods of dose assessment.

One of the major tasks of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection's (BfS) Coordinating Office on Incorporation Monitoring is to support the approved laboratories for incorporation monitoring (ALfIM) in their quality assurance in all stages in assessing the internal dose. This means that the Coordinating Office has to take special care of the regular performance of intercomparisons in the in-vivo laboratories (whole body and partial body counter) and the in-vitro laboratories (excretion analysis).

For the handling of sources of ionising radiation, dose limits for the workers have been laid down in the German Radiation Protection Ordinance (Strahlenschutzverordnung - StrlSchV). For the effective dose this value is 20 mSv per year. When handling open radioactive substances, the body dose can be composed of external and/or internal radiation exposure, depending on working conditions, the chemical form of the used substances and the type of radionuclides.

In Germany the accredited laboratories (ALIM) are responsible for the monitoring of incorporations within the framework of physical radiation protection control. These laboratories apply the monitoring methods usual for the assessment of the body dose in case of internal radiation exposure